Survival of lethally X-irradiated rats after treatment with isogenic marrow lymphocytes

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Abstract
Cell populations ("layer 2" cells) containing a high percentage of lymphocytes were separated from rat bone marrow. The capacity of such cells to promote 30-day survival of lethally X-irradiated (700 R) rats was investigated. The number of 30-day survivors increased in proportion to the number of layer 2 cells injected. As few as 1 x 106 layer 2 cells afforded protection against mortality in 61% of the recipients. Doses of 6 x 106 layer 2 cells gave optimal protection. About 5 times as many isogenic whole bone marrow cells were required to confer a level of protection comparable to that afforded by the layer 2 cells. It appears that marrow lymphocytes are the cells in the layer 2 inoculum responsible for preventing mortality and promoting the hemopoietic recovery of lethally irradiated rats.